The Public Health and Environmental Laboratories (PHEL) Internship Program offers graduate and undergraduate students hands-on experience in:

• Public health
• Computer and information science
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Environmental science
• Health policy and administration
• Technology and related fields

Internship Highlights

• Project-based experience tailored to the intern’s field of study.
• Collaboration with PHEL mentors and (if applicable) college advisors for Capstone projects.
• Flexible scheduling with a minimum of 225 hours over 10 weeks (Capstone projects may require more time).
• Onsite resources including campus access, free parking, workspace, and computer access.

Learning Opportunities

Interns gain exposure to public health operations and work alongside Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in:

• Molecular microbiology
• Environmental science and chemistry
• Health policy and administration
• Laboratory testing supporting CDC, NJ Department of Health, and law enforcement agencies

Internship Applications

🚨 The Spring 2026 Internship Application Portal is now CLOSED

For questions about PHEL internships, contact our Internship Coordinator at Satyam.Patel@doh.nj.gov.

For general internship inquiries, email internships@doh.nj.gov.

The Public Health and Environmental Laboratories' STEM program is designed to provide STEM experience for Trenton-area junior high and high school students through interaction with real scientists in a working laboratory environment, and provision of hands-on activities which illustrate application of STEM skills in public service programs.  Students are introduced to vector borne disease recognition, diagnosis of sickle cell disease in newborns, operation of sophisticated instrumentation for heavy metal analysis, pathogen genomics and data analysis and visualization and related topics.

The PHEL program is a member of the Trenton Area STEM Council, a council composed of local Community Based Organizations (CBOs) focusing on STEM that provide experiences to help students build relevant skills for future opportunities. Through this program, PHEL coordinates with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County and The Rutgers 4H Program to provide relevant experiences.

STEM Committee Charter

2025 Poster Session PHLS

• Advancing Public Health Laboratory Innovation through Strategic Data Science Internships
• Building a Public Health Laboratory STEM Program for High School Students in New Jersey
• Developing a Data Modernization Workforce Plan for New Jersey Public Health Laboratory Personnel
• VectorSurv Helper: Automating the Transfer of Data from PCR Instruments to an Online Database

2025 Poster Session ECLS

• Data Modernization in Practice: Streamlining Large-Scale Environmental Testing for Statewide Childcare Drinking Water Through Integration of REDCap and LIMS
• Development of Modified EPA Method 1668 for the Detection of 209 PCB Congeners in Fish Tissue
• How the NJDOH-ECLS uses the CDC-APHL Fellowship Program to Increase Capacity and Improve Public Health Service Provision
• Short-term and Long-term Frameworks for Public Health Laboratories Responding to the Public Health Mercury Crisis
• Strategic Modernization of Public Health and Environmental Laboratory’s LIMS: A Case Study of NJDOH-ECLS's Transition from ELEMENT® to Clinisys®
• Survey Weighting Methods and Initial Health Outcome Findings from the New Jersey Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NJHANES)
• Conducting Subject Matter Expert Calls with Study Participants with Elevated Results from the Ongoing NJHANES Biomonitoring Study

2024 Poster Session PHLS

• "Mind Maps ” for a Public Health Laboratory (PDF)
• Validation of Influenza Sequencing on Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Platforms (PDF)
• A Retrospective View of NJDOH’s Inaugural State-Wide Tick Surveillance Program(PDF)
• Assessing the Status of Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) in Clinical Laboratories in New Jersey (PDF)
• Cobots in Action: PHEL's Vision for Empowering Workforce Development and Efficient Laboratories (PDF)
• Engaging Interns and Fellows in Development of a STEM Program for High School Students (PDF)
• Partnerships Form the Basis of an Articulated Public Health Laboratory Workforce Development Program (PDF)

2024 Poster Session ECLS

• Reporting Elevated Biomonitoring Results to Study and Project Participants (PDF)
• Adapting Prenatal Metals Screening Procedures to New NJ Partners (PDF)
• New Jersey Biomonitoring Mercury Levels: A Comparison and Call to Action (PDF)
• Updates on the Implementation of New Jersey’s First Statewide Biomonitoring Population Study: NJHANES (PDF)
• The Qualitative Analysis of Drug of Abuse by Ultra High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) in Human Urine (PDF)
• Validation of a Combined Analytical Method for Toxic Metals in Urine: Improving Laboratory Efficiency and Implications for Biomonitoring Use (PDF)
• The Development of a High Throughput Solid Phase Extraction Method for PFAS in Human Serum Using an Automated Janus® Workstation (PDF)
• Optimization of Fish Homogenization Procedures for EPA Method 1633 to Measure Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) in Fish (PDF)
  
  

2023 Poster session PHLS Part I

2023 Poster session PHLS Part II

2023 Poster session ECLS

2022 Public Health Laboratory Services Posters

2022 Environmental Chemistry Laboratory Services Posters

The Laboratory Outreach Program (LOP), is responsible for enhancing and developing relationships with both internal and external partners through collaborative planning, educational programs, training and other methods, to facilitate development of an integrated public health/private sector laboratory network. This program, in collaboration with the Association for Public Health Laboratories (APHL), develops and coordinates training programs for clinical and public health laboratories on topics of medical, scientific and regulatory significance, which directly impact public health practice. Additionally, the LOP provides members of the New Jersey Laboratory Response Network (LRN), a statewide network of comprehensive microbiology laboratories, a mechanism for rapid exchange of information regarding their role in emergency.

Laboratory Response Network